By Allen VanNess (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Spokane Owls did not have the kind of season they had hoped for last year, as they finished with an 8-17 record, but new head coach Kyle Johnson is confident his team has the experience and work ethic to take strides in the right direction this season.
Coming from Owensville where he spent his last two seasons, Johnson is not quite sure what to expect from his team, but he definitely sees them heading in the right direction.
“It’s tough to say what my expectations are for this team,” Johnson said. “My expectation is that we win more game than they won last year. I’m excited to get going here at Spokane, and I’m going to do my very best to get this program turned around and headed back into conference and district contention. It’ll take some time, but I am very excited about the future of our program”
Unfortunately for the Owls, they lost three starters to graduation from last season. Losing Storm Price, Cody Terrell and Mark Moran leave holes to fill, especially with Price (all-conference selection) and Terrell, but that does not mean there is no experience on the team.
“Storm and Cody will be tough guys to replace, but we return a lot of experience and expect to improve,” said Johnson.
Those returning are starters Isaiah Bean, Clayton Moore and Jack Rigdon. Other returnees include Chase Horton, Chandler Brown and Johnathan Hruska.
Bean comes into his sophomore year with a lot of varsity experience after starting all 25 games as a freshman, while Rigdon comes into his junior season and will be expected to play a number of positions for the Owls. Horton also returns for his junior season and will be the floor general and set up the offense.
“Isaiah will be relied on to score, rebound and play tough defense,” Johnson said. “I expect him to be one of our leading scorers and rebounders this season, and I expect he will have a very big season for us. Jack is a very versatile player that can play point guard and also go in and play inside. I expect Jack to have a breakout season and be a captain for us. Chase will need to take care of the ball, limit his turnovers and play good defense.”
Moore, Brown and Stone also bring different skill sets and will all be needed if the Owls are going to be successful this season. Moore begins his senior season as the big man who will be expected to battle on the boards, as well as be a threat offensively and defensively. Brown and Stone are also seniors and are both expected to compete for a starting position for Spokane.
“Clayton is strong and does a lot of nice things inside for us,” said Johnson. “He has good range and will be a key factor in our success this season. He should lead us in rebounds, be an offensive and defensive threat inside and be a leader for our younger guys coming up. I expect Chandler to be a key contributor for us this season. He shoots the ball well and can do a lot of good things for us if he’ll commit himself, and Trenton is tough on the inside and does a nice job of working for position on both ends of the floor. He can rebound, play tough defense and be a guy that sees a lot of minutes for us this season.”
Overall, while being new to the team makes it difficult to really know what to expect, he is sure that the SWCL conference and Spokane’s district will be highly competitive, and the Owls will have to play their best every night.
“I think the conference itself, from top to bottom, is going to be very competitive,” Johnson said. “You can’t underestimate any team in our conference and each conference game will be a battle. We got moved into a new district that will definitely be different because most schools are well north of us and we don’t typically see them much. There are definitely schools in the district that have had a lot of success over the past few years.”
The Spokane Owls open their season on Nov. 22 when they host the Hollister Tigers.
